Sky (4) – The Great Balloon Race

Probably their best album, as they wrote most of it themselves. Although it didn't sell well, they had upgraded their sound, coming across like an instrumental Ultravox album.

John Williams departed Sky in December 1983 and the band continued as a quartet, with Kevin Peek assuming a greater role. In 1985 they recorded the album The Great Balloon Race at studios in Australia and London, with several guest musicians adding some instruments not previously used by Sky (flute, pan pipes, sax, spoken word). This album gets overlooked because of where it falls on the Sky timeline, and because it had been out-of-print for a long time. This Esoteric reissue is newly remastered from the original master tapes, fully restores the original album artwork, and features a new essay.

Desperate for your love is truly fantastic. The rest of the album goes downhill from there and reverts back to the bog-standard, classical neo-covers.

What? Rock? Reggea? Who ever classed this album in this genre needs their ears cleaned. More likely, they haven't actually listened to this album. It's ambient electronics in my opinion.